Good Friday

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
that man to judge thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee:
I crucified thee.

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
for our atonement, while we nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.

For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
not my deserving.

Maundy Thursday

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Revival

In the 1950's, NPR ran a series of essays on a show called "This I Believe". It sounded pretty remarkable - people from all walks of life, from Helen Keller to Jackie Robinson to Harry Truman to people none of us have ever heard of. Except for maybe those of you who heard this series when it aired. It was apparently a great sucess - and they're going to try it again.
NPR "invites you to tell us about the principles by which you live and the people and events that have shaped your beliefs in an essay to be considered for broadcast". So all you writer-types (yes, I do mean you) should check out "This I Believe" and pull out the old quill and ink. They even have some of the original essays to spark your imagination.

Its amazing what you find out, lying in bed and listening to NPR for an hour after you were supposed to get up.

Does this still count?

Is the weekend before classes start still 'spring break', even though you wouldn't have classes on a weekend anyway? I'm not sure. But, no matter how you count it, I am at the end of Spring Break, and I am pleased to say that the last "spring break" I'll have for a while has been well spent. I rested and relaxed for a couple days, then spent a couple days in New Orleans visiting a good friend. We heard some great music, ate some good food, drank some good beer, painted a boat, and got very little sleep. Plus, I added something to my list of "10 Things I've Done That You Probably Haven't" that I've been meaning to post - see below. So, thankfully, I also spent the last day and a half of my spring break doing some more resting and relaxing. I got to see Si as Felix in the Odd Couple (very funny play, very good job Si!), and spent some desparately needed quality time with a couple friends. It was loverly. Plus, I dropped in on Reconciler tonight. We sang a hymn that contains one of my favorite lines of hymnody: "Know that the Lord is God indeed, without our aid he did us make". Yep. God didn't need your help to do great things before you were around, and still doesn't need us for much of anything. Humility, humility, humility - all with a touch of humor. I love it. And now - a little guitar (file that under the Rest & Relaxation category) and then off to bed with me: I have a Class tomorrow!! But first... that post i've been meaning to finish:

The "10 Things I've Done blah blah blah" Game.
1. Climbed to the top of the dome of the Florence Cathedral and St. Peter's in the Vatican. In the same trip.
2. Spent two weeks in Ireland with no plans other than our plane ticket in and out of the country - all because we wanted to be more spontaneous people
3. Marched in last mile of cross-country peace march to the United Nations in NYC, carrying a banner that my homeroom made
4. Married my high school sweetheart
5. Sang a solo in front of my whole school in the 7th grade (a whole song - "Memory" from Cats to be exact)
6. Spent six weeks commuting between Ann Arbor and New York City... working in Michigan from Tuesday to Friday, weekends in the city
7. Helped build the frame for a two-story theater set - and then helped stand it up
8. Rode horses in glacier nat'l park
9. Took a hot-air balloon ride (sunset in San Diego)
10. Driven a motorboat down the Louisiana bayou (that would be the one I added this week)

Southland In The Springtime

Yeah. I know I don't live in the South. Thanks. I got that. And yeah, theres snow on the ground outside my window. But...

Seabury is officially on Spring Break - and, now that yesterday's sermon (see below) is finished and delivered, I am too!! Why is it that Spring Break has never lost that celebratory feeling for me? I celebrated last night by attending theOne of the Girls concert at the Heartland. If you haven't seen these guys yet, and you live out here, you really should. Its just a darn good time. Plus, that mandolin player is pretty sweet.

My other big event for the week is... (drumroll please)... my first trip to New Orleans! I'm so excited. Our friend Morgan, who grew up down there, is at Tulane Law School now, so we're going to drop in on him for a little bit. Only two days for me, since we're coming on up Holy Week - but still. New Orleans!! I'll think of you all while I'm eating beignets or listening to jazz.

And for those of you who don't make the connection as readily... the title is an Indigo Girls song - as a way of noting that I'm adding a link over there on that side bar. PPB left a comment a couple days ago, so I checked out her site... and I found this quote:
27. WHAT IS YOUR DREAM JOB?
Real dream job? Singing ala Indigo Girls, Dar Williams kind of deal.
Realistic dream job? Senior chaplain at a small liberal arts college, with some secretarial help and at least a part time priest and rabbi.

Yeah. So I added her, of course. Welcome aboard!!